1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is related to a transmission device, in particular, to a wireless transmission device for connecting to a connecting device.
2. Description of Related Art
As the wireless technology matures, wireless networks become increasingly common. Low data rate wireless transmission devices in particular, have gained much attention in fields such as home appliance, toy, industrial technology, security and health care, etc. A main reason being that the low data rate wireless transmission devices possess characteristics such as low cost, low power consumption and easy implementation, etc., and are suitable for applications that require low maintenance and high service coverage. In various low data rate wireless communication protocols, IEEE 802.15.4 and Zigbee are the two most representative standards.
For instance, wireless transmission devices within a corporate or a family can form a Personal Area Network (PAN), for transmitting data within the corporate or the family. Taking the Zigbee wireless communication protocol as an example, the protocol specifies 26 wireless channels, where nodes of each channel can coexist and do not interfere with each other. As mentioned above, such low data rate wireless transmission devices have simple structures and are easy to implement. Hence Zigbee is utilized widely to create private wireless ad-hoc networks, for realizing home automation, office automation and/or wireless sensing, etc.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a communication link possessing a wireless transmission device and a connecting device. The communication link 10 can be a PAN, which comprises a plurality of wireless communication devices 12˜14 and the connecting device 11. The connecting device 11 comprises an enable button 111 and a reset button 112. The wireless transmission devices 12˜14 can be electronic devices such as a socket detector or a temperature controller, etc., which utilize wireless data transmission.
In a Zigbee PAN, the most important step is the addition of a new node. A reason being that, since each wireless transmission device communicates with the connecting device via wireless transmission, an unexpected wireless transmission device might join the PAN, or a wireless transmission device might join an unexpected PAN. Consequently issues such as leakage of personal privacy information or illegally occupying a bandwidth of the wireless network may occur.
Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 together. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a connection being established between a conventional transmission device (e.g. a Zigbee device) and a connecting device (e.g. a coordinator). Generally, an enable button 111 is conventionally disposed on the connecting device 11. As shown by step 211 in FIG. 2, when a user is to establish a connection between the wireless transmission device 22 and the connecting device 21, the user presses the enable button on the connecting device 21, for the connecting device 21 to generate a command for enabling a connectable mode. Subsequently, in step 212, the connecting device 21 recognizes that the wireless transmission device 22 is intending to join/connect. The connecting device 21 enters the connectable mode.
In step 221, after the user has enabled the connectable mode of the connecting device 21, the user operates the wireless transmission device 22 to send out a beacon request, for searching for any connecting devices 21 that are in the connectable mode. In step 213, when the connecting device 21 has received the beacon request from the wireless transmission device 22, the connecting device 21 replies a beacon response to the wireless transmission device 22, to notify the wireless transmission device 22 the presence of the connecting device 21, which is in the connectable mode. In step 222, if the wireless transmission device 22 is to establish a connection, the wireless transmission device 22 transmits an associate request to the connecting device 21. In step 214, after the connecting device 21 has received the associate request from the wireless transmission device 22, the connecting device 21 transmits an associate response to the wireless transmission device 22 to complete establishing the connection between the wireless transmission device 22 and the connecting device 21.
After the connecting device 21 has entered in the connectable mode, the connecting device 21 can receive the associate request from the wireless transmission device during a connectable mode period D. After the connectable mode period D has expired, the connecting device 21 turns off the connectable mode in step 215. This way, unexpected wireless transmission devices can be prevented from joining the PAN.
However, for such conventional connection method, when the user is to establish a connection between the wireless transmission devices 12˜14 and the connecting device 11, the user has to initiate from the connecting device 11. Further, if the connecting device 11 is at a place (e.g. a tall stand or a ceiling, etc.) not easily reached by the user, the user may have difficulties accessing the enable button. The conventional connection method causes inconveniences in establishing connections, and may result in an unfriendly impression to the user and low market acceptance.